Crowdfunding giant Kickstarter has reached a new milestone. Total Kickstarter pledges have surpassed $1 billion, the company announced Monday. The total came from 5.7 million donors, and half of the sum was pledged in the last 12 months alone. In Kickstarter’s first month in April 2009, its users raised nearly $3,900. Kickstarter, along with competitor Indiegogo, have become funding places of choice for inventors, entrepreneurs, and anyone who has an idea they’d like to make a reality.
Kickstarter today recorded its one billionth dollar pledged, nearly four years after the crowdfunding site went live in April 2009. The company launched a special One Billion Dollars page today to celebrate the milestone, which features loads of details about the achievement. First, and perhaps most notably, though people have pledged $1 billion to date, Kickstarter only counts $859 million in successful dollars. Unlike Indiegogo, Kickstarter is all-or-nothing, so if a project comes up short, backers will get refunds. A total of 5.7 million individuals contributed to the $1 billion milestone.
